


The Days Between

by vivvav



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Game Spoilers, Romance, Slice of Life, The AFR Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-07
Updated: 2017-05-17
Packaged: 2018-10-29 04:31:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10846521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vivvav/pseuds/vivvav
Summary: Having just gotten out of a nightmarish two months, Akira Kurusu only has a few weeks left with all his friends before it's time to leave Tokyo. But between his imprisonment and the end of his Phantom Thief career, readjusting to normal life is a tough transition. Thankfully, after all he's done to help them, the people in Akira's life are ready to return the favor.





	1. The Queen's Council

**Author's Note:**

> I'm gonna be totally honest: Writing fanfic is still new and kinda weird to me. I've stigmatized it for the longest time. I actually wrote this piece about a week ago, but still wasn't sure if I wanted to post it. But after the positive reception "The President's Interview" has gotten, I feel a lot more comfortable in posting this, so thank you folks. This is the first chapter of at least three.

Ren's welcome home party was everything he could’ve wanted and more. After nearly two months all alone save for the cold stares of the guards at juvenile hall, coming back to a party at LeBlanc full of love and laughter was the greatest feeling in the world. Especially once Morgana showed up. The evening was full of chatter, with everybody wanting Ren to know what they’d been up to, from Yusuke talking about his paintings to Haru’s progress on opening a cafe. It was also exhausting. Which is why when he got a text from Makoto later that evening asking if they could spend some time alone together tomorrow, he responded with a simple “I’ll be waiting”. Because that’s all Ren really wanted to do. Take it easy for a day, have an adjustment period, celebrate his newfound freedom by exercising his freedom to do nothing. And then, at some point, just spend some quality time with his girlfriend, doing nothing together.

Of course, things didn’t go to plan. Not too long after he got up, Sojiro came into his room.

“Good, you’re dressed.”

“Sure am.” Ren was sitting on his bed, reading some book about a dog. “Feels good to be back in my own clothes instead of some uniform.”

“Then you’re gonna hate me for this.” Sojiro tossed Ren an apron.

“Really, Boss? I was hoping to just relax today.”

“And I wanted to let you.” Sojiro sighed and rubbed the back of his head. He and Ren agreed that he’d be working at LeBlanc until Ren's probation was up, but he really hadn’t intended on putting the kid back to work on his first day home. “But we’ve got a full house downstairs and I can’t ask Futaba to help me with a crowd this huge.”

“Got it.” Ren stood up and put on the apron. “Where do you need me?”

Sojiro had Ren start by handling coffee orders while he cooked up a batch of curry. The two of them wound up trading places a bunch during the day. Sometimes Sojiro would handle coffee while Ren washed dishes. At one point, Ren had to man the entire shop by himself while Sojiro ran to the grocery store down the street for more curry ingredients. LeBlanc was at full capacity for almost the entire day, mostly couples. It wasn’t until the sun went down that the constant stream of customers slowed down to a trickle. Ren was washing dishes again when the last couple vacated the premises.

“Today’s been crazy.” Ren wiped the sponge across his sweaty forehead. “Did we really get this popular while I was gone?”

“No, it’s been business as usual. The cafe hasn’t been this full since last- Wait…” 

Sojiro looked at the TV. The news was on, and they had the date on the screen. 2/14.

“Oh right, today’s Valentine’s Day. No wonder there were so many guys bringing girls in here.”

_“Valentine’s Day?”_ Ren thought to himself. He just realized he had no idea what the date was. He stopped keeping track after New Year. It was just too depressing. _“Wait, wasn’t I supposed to meet someone today?”_

“Don’t you have anything exciting happening?” Sojiro looked towards Ren. “I mean, you’ve been here nearly a whole year. Y’know, when I was young, hoo boy…”

Sojiro’s reminiscence was interrupted by the ringing of a bell. Ren rolled his eyes, still scrubbing the curry stains off a plate. He didn’t want to deal with any more customers today.

“Good evening.” 

_“Makoto! SHE’S who I was supposed to meet today! Wait, did she know that she asked to meet on Valentine’s Day?”_ Ren shook his head. _“Of course she did, she’s a genius. Plus, it’s not like she was the one who’s been in jail since Christmas.”_

“Sorry to barge in like this…” Makoto felt very uncomfortable seeing Sojiro there. She realized that she should’ve expected LeBlanc’s owner to be in LeBlanc, but she’d had butterflies in her stomach all day.

Ren dried off his hands and came around the counter. He and Makoto just stared at each other awkwardly. Except for that one time with Lala-Chan, they’d never really had a witness to any of their more intimate moments. Neither was sure what to say.

“Ohhh…” Sojiro looked at Ren and chuckled, a sly— and notably proud— smile on his face. “You should’ve just told me. Here, I’ll leave the store to you.” He turned to Makoto. “Enjoy yourselves.”

Sojiro headed out the door, Morgana following behind him. Ren didn’t even realize that the cat had been in the room at all.

“So…” Ren looked around the room, desperate to think of any ice-breaker. “Would you like some coffee?”

“That sounds lovely.”

Ren fetched Makoto and himself some cups and the two sat down at a table. 

“He was quite considerate” Makoto said, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. “Thank you for agreeing to spend this time with me.”

“Make yourself at home”, Ren replied.

“Ok.” She reached down into her bag and pulled out a small orange box, putting it on the table. “Oh yes, I… I want you to have this.”

Ren looked at the box silently. It couldn’t be…

“I considered making it by hand… Would you have preferred that?”

_“Oh man, this is real. Valentine’s chocolates from my girlfriend. Ok, gotta say the right thing here. Don’t wanna upset her.”_

“Anything from you is perfect.” Ren tried to say that as suavely as possible. He had no idea if he was pulling it off. Makoto giggled.

“That sounds like something a guy at a host club would say.” Given their past experiences with a certain host, Ren wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing. “Still… I’m glad we’re able to be here together. I wanted to give my first Valentine’s Day chocolate… directly to you.”

“You mean a lot to me too.” Ren reached across the table and took the box of chocolates. 

“It makes me happy to hear you say that.” Makoto was blushing. That caused Ren to start blushing. Makoto decided to change the topic. “I’ve been studying hard. I’m looking to apply to law school. My dream of becoming a police commissioner remains the same.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

“I know I can do it… especially with your help.”

“You got this, honor student.”

“You know that’s not me!”

“Yeah, but you’re not _not_ an honor student.”

“Um,” Makoto decided to change the topic again, “can I sit next to you?”

_“I don’t know why we didn’t just start out doing that.”_ Ren nodded. Makoto got up from her side of the table and joined him. 

“So… what I really wanted to talk to you about is…” A sad look appeared on her face. “You’re going back next month, right? What will happen… to us?”

“Nothing will change.” Wait, was that right? Ren wasn’t sure if what he said was true or if he’d just blurted out what he wanted.

“Yes. Yes, you’re right.”

_“Huh. So she thinks so too.”_ Ren nodded. _“I AM right. We’ll make it work somehow.”_

“You know, there was a lot I wanted to say, but none of that matters now that we’re here together. After all that waiting, living in different places doesn’t seem like such a big deal.” Makoto leaned her head on Ren's shoulder. “And… I’ve been waiting for you for so long. I’m not asking too much… am I?” 

“No.” Ren put his arm around Makoto’s shoulder. “After saving the world, we’ve earned this.”

The two sat there for a moment, just enjoying each other’s company. Everything else was out of their minds. Makoto wasn’t thinking about her college search. Ren wasn’t focusing on his impending departure. There was simply joy, the happiness of being together without the noise of their friend group. Total silence, save for the soft sound of each other’s breath.

And then Ren's stomach grumbled, bringing the moment to an undignified end.

“Sorry,” Ren said, “I’ve been dealing with customers all day. Didn’t really have time for a lunch break.”

“I’m sure Boss has some leftover curry he wouldn’t mind you helping yourself to.”

“No thank you. I’ve been slinging curry all day. I don’t want anything to do with the stuff right now.” Ren picked up the orange box in front of him. “Say, this is food.” 

“That’s hardly a nutritious meal.”

“No, it’s better. It’s a gift from my amazing girlfriend.” Ren stood up, striking a goofy pose reminiscent of Yusuke whenever he went on one of his tangents about his art. “What it lacks in nutritional value, it will make surely make up for in love, enriching my health in a way that not even the joint effort of the world’s finest dietitians and chefs could match!”

“Will you cut that out?” Makoto was pulling at the hem of Ren shirt. “You’re going to embarrass me!”

“What are you talking about? We’re the only ones here!”

“What if Boss came back and saw you acting like that?”

“Knowing him, he’d probably critique my form.” Ren put on a smug look, hunched his neck so it was below his shoulders, and started running his fingers through an invisible goatee, talking in a deep voice. “‘Sweeping declarations of love are fine for amateur hour, but if you really want a girl to fall for you, you’ve got to make your sweet talk personal. Let me explain!’”

Makoto covered her mouth, trying to contain her laughter. Ren looked down at her.

“Say, you wanna go upstairs? I’ve been stuck down here all day.”

“Alright, let’s.”

Ren took off his apron and the two headed up to his room. They sat down on the couch together.

“Oh, yeah…” Ren let himself sink into cushioned surface. “This is much more comfortable than those booths downstairs.”

“I agree. The seating in LeBlanc isn’t uncomfortable, but the table can be somewhat confining.” Makoto stretched her legs forward. “This open space is much more inviting.”

“I think it's time we see what we’ve got here.” Ren opened the box Makoto gave him, gently removing the scarlet ribbons surrounding the package. He lifted the lid and saw a bunch of medium-thickness dark chocolate squares, all separated, arranged in two rows of four. From how deep the box was, he was guessing there was a second layer of chocolates under the packaging of what he could see. He let out a slight chuckle.

“What’s so funny?”

“Huh?” Ren looked at Makoto. The look on her face was a mix of worry and suspicion. “Oh, it’s just, this is a very ‘Makoto’ kind of gift.”

“And what does that mean?”

“Nothing bad.” Ren felt the need to get that out immediately. Makoto’s expression had replaced worry with annoyance. “It’s just the kind of gift that suits your personality. Orderly, refined, but still tantalizing.” 

“I’m going to choose to take that as a compliment.”

“You should! Those are things I love about you!” Ren picked up one of the chocolates and held it in front of Makoto’s face. “Open wide.”

“Oh no, I couldn’t! Those are for you!”

“And since they’re mine, that means I get to say who eats them, don’t I?” Ren kept waving the treat in front of his girlfriend. “Come on! Just one! For me? Please?”

“Well, I suppose…” Makoto reached for the chocolate, but Ren pulled his hand back.

“Uh-uh! I want to feed it to you. That’s what makes it romantic!”

 “Oh! I see!” Makoto shook her head. “That makes sense. Like one of those couples on television. Let’s try it.” She held her mouth open.

Ren slowly passed the chocolate between her lips, letting its edge touch the tip of her tongue. As Makoto’s teeth bit into it, he quickly pulled his fingers back and planted his lips around her closing mouth, stealing half of the chocolate with his tongue and kissing her at the same time. Makoto’s eyes widened and her face turned bright red, but she didn’t pull back. Ren held his mouth where it was for a few seconds, then broke off the kiss, and began chewing on the reclaimed treat.

“Mmm, raspberry filling! Something exciting hidden just beneath the surface.” He swallowed and grinned at her. “That is also very ‘Makoto.’”

 Makoto let out some kind of response, but between how flustered she was and the fact that there was uneaten chocolate just sitting on her tongue, it wasn’t very clear.

“What was that?”

“Ah thaid…” Makoto took a moment to actually consume the morsel sitting in her mouth. “I’m glad that it’s to your liking.” Makoto was still blushing, and she was clenching her hands together tightly. This didn’t escape Ren's notice. 

“Hey, was that ok?” 

“Huh?”

“What I did, just now. I didn’t upset you, did I?”

“Oh! Um, of course not!”

“You mean it?”

“Yes.” Makoto smiled, her face returning to its normal color. She disentangled her fingers too. “I mean it.”

“Ok, good. Because…” Ren reached his hand out towards Makoto’s leg, then pulled back and settled it on his own kneecap. “I don’t ever want to do anything that makes you uncomfortable. I just thought it would be exciting, and-”

“Ren…” Makoto put her hand on top of his. “It’s fine. If I ever think you’re going too far, I’ll let you know.” 

“Alright.” Ren looked down at Makoto’s hand on top of his, then looked into her eyes. Their deep red color entranced him, and he sensed an incredible passion coming from them. He was used to seeing passion in her eyes, though it was usually during their excursions to the Metaverse, when Queen’s fury awoke and she laid waste to all who opposed her. And Ren was completely in love with that, no doubt. Queen terrified and thrilled him, and even thrilled him a little in the fact that she terrified him. But this passion was different. Warm, but not fiery. Inviting, not domineering. This was just Makoto, and he was completely lost in her.

Somehow, Ren managed to pry himself away from Makoto’s gaze. He closed the box of chocolates and put them on his work desk.

“I’ll set the rest of this aside for later. Don’t want it gone too soon. Besides, Morgana will probably want a piece.”

“Don’t give him any! Chocolate is extremely toxic for cats!”

“You sure? I bet he’d appreciate a little nibble-“

“Ren.” Makoto gripped Ren's shoulder, squeezing tighter with every word. “Don’t. Give. Morgana. Chocolate.”

“Ok, ok, let go!” Ren thrashed around a bit, managing to pry his shoulder from her grasp. He immediately went to rub the soreness out of it. “Ouch… I didn’t realize you brought Queen with you.”

“Queen goes wherever she pleases,” Makoto replied haughtily, her nose turned upwards and a smirk on her face. She looked at Ren tending his shoulder and her smugness quickly departed. “I’m sorry, but it was for Morgana’s sake.”

“Alright, that’s fair.” Ren stopped rubbing his shoulder. It still hurt a bit, but he’d be fine. “Also, I just realized I never actually thanked you for the chocolates. So, you know, thank you. It must’ve been a real hassle getting them.” 

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I only just got out yesterday. So I bet a lot of stores were sold out or the prices were really jacked up.”

“Wait, do you think I just bought them today?” 

“Um… Yes?”

“Ren…” Makoto put her hand on Ren's shoulder again, this time gently. She had a proud smile on her face. “I’ve been holding onto those chocolates for two weeks.” 

“Really?”

“Of course. Sis was keeping me updated on her progress.”

“So you knew I’d be out by Valentine’s Day?”

“Well, I didn’t know for certain.” Makoto removed her hand from Ren's shoulder, taking his hand into her own. “But I had faith.” 

“Wow.” Ren leaned back, sinking into the couch again. “At least one of us did.” 

“What?” Makoto’s smile vanished.

“Nothing.” 

“Ren, what do you mean?”

“I don’t mean anything.” Ren directed his gaze away from Makoto. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Ren, no.” Makoto tightened her grip around Ren's hand. “You can’t ask me to ignore that. Did something happen to you while you were locked up?”

“You don’t need to hear this.”

“Hear what?” Makoto’s free hand turned Ren's head towards her and she looked him in the eyes. “Ren, I don’t want a repeat of Christmas Eve. You’re my boyfriend. You don’t need to hide anything from me.”

“It won’t help anything.” Ren stood up, taking a few steps away from the couch. “All it’d do is upset you.”

“I’m upset now!” Makoto got up from the couch. “If you’re hurting, let me help you!”

“I don’t need help! Can we just drop it!?”

“Ren, please. I understand how you feel.” Makoto stepped closer to Ren. “You help people. You feel like you have to be strong for them all the time. You don’t want to burden them. I was the same way. I worked hard. I didn’t complain. I made other peoples’ problems my problems and pushed down my own feelings.” She wrapped her arms around him from behind. “But you showed me that it was ok to let others help me. That I didn’t need to take on the world on my own. Let me be there for you like you were for me.”

“I can’t just- Everyone else-“ Ren moved his hands up to Makoto’s arms, half wanting to tear off her grasp, half wanting her to somehow hold him tighter. “It doesn’t feel right.“

“Ren Amamiya…” Makoto let go and moved around to his front, looking him in the eye. “Do you trust me?”

“Of course I do, Makoto.” 

“Then will you try something for me? Please?" 

“Ok.” 

Makoto led Ren to his bed. She had him sit along the middle of the bed, and sat herself down at the foot. There were a few feet between them.

“Let’s get rid of these.” Makoto took Ren's fake glasses off his face and tossed them onto his pillow. She didn’t understand why he still wore them even though his name had been cleared and he wasn’t even going to school anymore. Frankly, it’s not like they helped soften his image while he was at school either, thanks to those rumors Kamoshida spread. She put her hands on both sides of his head and looked him in his unobscured eyes. They were sad, trying to hide something. “Are you ok so far?”

“Yes.”

“And you still trust me?”

“Always.”

“Good. Come here.” Makoto slowly pulled Ren's head towards her, leading his entire body downwards. Ever so gradually, he leaned more and more to the side. After a few moments, Ren's head was hovering a few inches over Makoto’s lap.

“I need you to do this last part on your own, ok?”

“Are you sure? It’s kind of-“

“Ren, I want you to do it. But you have to want to do it too. If I let go, you have to let go. Can you do that?”

“I can try.” 

“Ok. I’m letting go now.” Makoto took her hands off Ren's head. He hesitated, but slowly allowed his body to give way to gravity. His upper body was now lying sideways across the bed, the side of his face resting directly on Makoto’s lap. 

“There we go. Are you comfortable?”

“Not really.”

“I see. I’m sorry, I thought that-“

“Wait. Let me try something.” Ren hoisted his legs up onto the bed and shifted his weight. His whole body turned, and now he was lying on his back, the back of his head on Makoto’s lap, looking straight up at her face. “Oh yeah, that’s better.”

“I’m glad. Are you feeling relaxed?”

“A little.” Makoto’s legs were softer than he expected. He’d seen her deliver so many devastating kicks to monsters that for some reason he imagined them as being hard as steel. In retrospect, it didn’t really make sense. He’d seen her punch just as hard, and her arms were normal. He never imagined he’d be doing this tonight, but having his head resting on her thighs felt nice.

“Now I’m going to do one more thing, alright?”

“Sure.” 

Makoto ran her hand through Ren's hair. She didn’t just repeat one motion. Sometimes she flickered her fingers through his soft black tresses. Sometimes she pinched a lock and rolled it between her fingers for a moment. Sometimes she dragged her fingertips over his scalp, or gave it a good scratch. But it was all gentle, and Ren started to be overcome with a feeling. He couldn’t quite say what it was. It was familiar, but he hadn’t felt it in a while.

Ren had a lot of people he could count on. People he was close to, who’d fight for him with all they had. Sojiro and Futaba were basically family at this point, and though they didn’t always feel comfortable saying it, he knew there was love between the three of them. Ryuji was his best friend. He’d take a bullet for Ren without a second though, and Ren would do the same for him. The same went for Morgana, and Ann, and Yusuke, and Haru. When everyone else at school turned away, Ms. Kawakami was there for him, even if their friendship came about through strange circumstances. And if Sojiro was like a father to him, then old man Tora was like an uncle. He’d found the little brother he never had in Shinya, not to mention a different kind of brother in Kaoru, and his bond with Iwai. There was Ohya and Lala-Chan at the bar, who acknowledged his age but never looked down on him for it. There was his fellow shogi warrior Hifumi, who reminded him that a dream’s not dead if you don’t stop pursuing it. Mishima was kind of a mess, but he was a good dude, and Ren knew that he could count on him when it mattered. Then there was Chihaya, who showed him that some people were just incredible in both talent and character. And of course Tae Takemi, who despite her tough exterior would never turn away anybody she could help, even if she thought it might bring trouble upon herself. Not to mention Sae, who showed Ren that sometimes people can better themselves of their own volition, and that things aren’t always as bad as they seem. Even Igor and Lavenza, though he’d probably never see them again, gave him the strength to fight against all odds when he needed it, and although he was no longer the Persona-wielding Trickster, he still became a better man thanks to the journey they put him on.

All of those people. Friends, allies, family. They gave Ren strength. They gave him something to fight for, something to believe in. They built him up and made him into something better. But none of them could give him what Makoto could right now. This intimacy. This tenderness. This comfort. Right now, Ren didn’t need to be Joker, the indomitable leader of the Phantom Thieves. He didn’t need to be the kid who helped everyone else solve their problems. He didn’t need to be the quiet transfer student trying to keep his head down. He didn’t need to play the role of hero or dodge the title of villain. There, with his head in Makoto’s lap, feeling her fingers in his hair, her loving smile watching over him, Ren could finally let his guard down. He didn’t need to run, or fight, or be anybody’s shield. For the first time in what felt like forever, Ren Amamiya felt… safe.

“How does this feel, Ren?" 

“It feels nice.”

“Are you ready to talk?”

“I think so.”

“Alright then.” Makoto kept caressing Ren's head, her smile unwavering. She was finally getting through to him. “Ren, what don’t you want me to know about your time in juvenile hall?”

“What I don’t want you to know is…” Part of Ren was screaming at him to shut up. To get up and run out of the room before Makoto could register what was going on. And a minute ago, he might have listened to that voice. But now he knew better. Makoto wouldn’t think any less of him if he showed weakness. And that was just fine. “Well, you know that I was in solitary confinement. All alone with my thoughts, and I couldn’t block them out. And… I was scared. Really, really scared. Lonely, and anxious, and worrying all the time, and terrified out of my mind.”

“What were you scared of?”

“So many things. I was scared that Shido wouldn’t be prosecuted. That his change of heart was somehow faked, and that it’d all turn out to be some kind of trick to lure out the leader of the Phantom Thieves and he’d become Prime Minister. Or that some other member of the conspiracy who was just as bad would step up to take his place. I was scared that they’d have placed some man inside juvenile hall who’d kill me in my sleep. Or worse, while I was awake. Torture me like they did in that interrogation room. Make me go through it all over again before…”

Tears started well up in Ren's eyes. With him facing straight up, they built up in the corners and streamed down the side of his face. They rolled from his skin onto Makoto’s stockings, but she didn’t mind. It broke her heart to see Ren like this, but her smile never wavered. Right now, he needed comfort and reassurance. It was her turn to be strong for him.

“I was worried that they’d get Sae to drop the case by threatening you. Or that they’d go after you and all our friends anyway. And Sojiro, and Tora, and Ohya, and everybody else I knew. I was worried they’d find some way to try me as an adult, and lock me away for good, and that would be it. I’d never finish school, never get to see any of the places I wanted to see, never get to have a family or a career or make something of myself. Just rot away in jail until I die, alone, knowing my life ended before it ever even started. And I’d never see any of you, the only people who gave a damn about me, ever again. Just me, and those walls, and knowing that I failed and it was all for nothing.”

“But it wasn’t all for nothing. You’re home now.” Makoto kept playing with his hair, her fingers never tiring. “Shido’s being brought to justice. Everyone you love is safe, and they’re all here for you. There’s no man hiding in the shadows, waiting to attack you. And you’re not in jail. You don’t even have a record anymore. You can finish school. You can make something of yourself. You can go anywhere you want, do anything you want, be anything you want. You’re safe now.”

“I know. But it’s hard to shake, after being alone all that time. Even now, I feel like everything’s about to fall apart.”

“That’s natural. After everything you’ve been through, it would be odd if you didn’t have some kind of trauma. But I’ll be here to help you through it. And so will Boss. And Futaba. And everybody else you mentioned.”

“But I’ll be going away soon. And nobody back home can understand what I’ve been through. What if I’m not better by then?”

“Then you just give me a call, and I’ll talk to you for as long as you need. And if talking’s not enough, I’ll be over as quickly as I can.”

“I can’t ask you to do that. You’re gonna be in law school, working towards your dream of becoming a police commissioner. I can’t ask you to put all that on hold and skip town to comfort your stupid mess of a boyfriend.”

“Ren, you’re not stupid, and you’re not a mess. And you’re not less important than a few college courses. That’s just the pain talking.”

“But what if-“

“Don’t do that, Ren. Don’t invent new things to be afraid of. Everything is fine now. And you may not feel like it right now, but eventually, you will be too.”

“Do you really believe that?”

“I do.”

The two sat in silence for a while. Makoto never stopped running her fingers through Ren's hair, never lost her smile, and they never broke eye contact. Eventually, Makoto noticed that new tears had stopped forming in Ren's eyes. With her free hand, she wiped away the trails of moisture that had been left behind on his face.

“Are you feeling better?”

“A bit, but…”

“But what?” 

“Do you think we could stay like this? Just a little longer?”

“Of course.”

“Thanks, Makoto.” Ren closed his eyes. He didn’t need to keep seeing Makoto’s smile. He knew that it was there. He felt like a weight had been taken off his brain, and just wanted to get lost in this sensation of comfort. “Hey, Makoto?”

“Yes, Ren?”

“I love you.”

Makoto leaned down and kissed Ren's forehead.

“I love you too.”


	2. Skull-Bashing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some things you just gotta talk about with the guys. Ren gets some much-needed bro-time with Ryuji.

It was an uneventful day for Ryuji. He’d gone for a run in the morning, helped his mom out by picking up some groceries, and then just sat around reading old manga the rest of the day.

“Sure, whenever Goku’s hair goes blonde, he saves everybody’s life. But when I dye it, people look at me like I’m kickin’ a dog everywhere I go.” Ryuji scoffed, tossing the old volume aside. “This crap is so unrealistic.”

Suddenly, Ryuji’s phone buzzed. He looked at it with gusto, relishing the distraction from the inequity between reality and fiction. It was a text from Ren.

> Hey, I’ve been feeling sluggish lately. Wanna train tomorrow?

“Dude, finally!” Ren had been out of jail for a few days now, and his welcoming party aside, Ryuji hadn’t spent any time with him. Apparently he was working for Boss until he had to leave town next month. Ryuji was bummed to see his best bud go, so he wanted to get as much hang time in as possible. Maybe it was just dumb luck thanks to them winding up in that palace together, but Ren Amamiya was the only guy at Shujin Academy who gave Ryuji the time of day and didn’t judge him for some bullshit reason. And though Ren had let him reconnect with Ann, and made him a bunch of new pals besides, it was still gonna suck to say goodbye.

What was he supposed to do, go running with Yusuke? He’d probably want Ryuji to stop halfway through a stride so he could “capture the essence of the human animal in motion” or something weird like that. Hang out at the arcade with Futaba? Sure, she’d probably be fun to play games with, but she’d also probably wear that weird mask thing and piss off everybody else in the room with her big mouth. And who was he supposed to see action movies with now? Haru? Actually, that probably wouldn’t be that bad. That girl had a dark side.

Anyway, no point in worrying about that stuff now. What good was thinking like Ren was gone when he wasn’t yet? Ryuji shot a text back.

> Hell yeah! Wanna meet at the gym?
> 
> I’m just starting back up. Let’s go for a run around Inokashira Park.
> 
> The place where all the couples go? Just you and me? I dunno…
> 
> Ryuji, we’re not getting a boat, we’re just running. People run in parks.
> 
> Oh. Yeah. Cool.
> 
> Noon good?
> 
> Sure. See you then.

Ryuji showed up at the park’s entrance half an hour early. He figured Ren would be early too. After all, Ren was the most reliable guy he knew. And he was probably just as excited to hang out with his best pal as Ryuji was. Yup, any minute now, Ren was gonna show up.

Ren was ten minutes late.

“Sorry. Missed a train.” Ren held out his fist. “Hope you weren’t waiting too long.”

“Actually-“ On second thought, this is not how Ryuji wanted to start the day. He fist bumped Ren. “Not that long. This is why I prefer the gym though. I could just start my warm-up on the treadmill or somethin’ while waitin’ on you.” Ryuji started stretching his legs.

“We’ll hit Protein Lover’s next time, I promise.” Ren followed Ryuji’s lead, beginning his own pre-run stretches. “I just wanted to get a slow start today. This is my first time exercising in a while.”

“F'real? I thought half the point of gettin' locked up was that you get jacked.”

“Not in solitary.” Ren had moved on to stretching his arms. “There’s some exercise time, but it’s limited.”

“That sucks, man.”

“It all sucked. Just thinking about it makes me wanna get moving.”

“Alright, I hear ya.” Ryuji grinned. “Let’s go!”

Ren and Ryuji started jogging through the park. They were going slower than they usually did, but Ren said he wanted to start slow, and Ryuji didn’t wanna push the guy. They kept a leisurely pace for about five minutes, not even really breaking a sweat. Ryuji wasn’t even sure it could really be called jogging. It was more like that power-walking thing old ladies did. It was awkward. Ren had this weird look on his face, and Ryuji wasn’t sure what to make of it. Ren had his share of mysterious looks, but they were usually cool and cunning, hints of Joker making schemes or just plain old Ren about to make some wisecrack. But this… Ryuji didn’t know what this was. It was just weird. And it made the whole not-run tense.

And then, slowly, the mood started to shift. Ren started to pick up some speed. Ryuji kept pace with him. Ren sped up a bit more. Now it was more like jogging. Then his face went completely blank, and he sped up even more. Now it was more of a light sprint. Ren picked up the speed one more time, and he got this big stupid grin on his face. Ryuji matched his speed and expression. _Now_ they were running. And more importantly, his buddy was back.

“Well well, look who’s finally awake!”

“You know it. This is everything I’ve been missing.”

“Freedom?”

“Yeah.” Ren looked to Ryuji. “Sorry I’ve been so weird lately.”

“Bein’ locked up really did a number on you, huh?”

“Yeah. I’ve had a lot of stuff pent up. Been working through it the last few days.”

“What, you mean, like…” Ryuji held up his water bottle and started making a pumping motion.

“No, man.” Ren shook his head. “Makoto helped me.”

“DUDE, SHE DID!?” Ryuji’s eyes were practically bugging out of his skull.

“NOT LIKE THAT, YOU PERV! I meant we talked and stuff.”

“Oh. For a second I thought you guys were datin’ or somethin’.” Ryuji lifted his bottle to his mouth and took a swig.

“I mean, we are.”

Ryuji spit out his water right in Ren's direction. Ren barely managed to dodge it.

“ **WHAT!?** Since when!?”

“I don’t know! I haven’t kept track! We spent Valentine’s Day together!”

“Well were you goin’ out before you went away!?”

“Yeah. We spent Christmas Eve together too.”

“Whoa dude, that sounds serious.” Ryuji’s pace slowed down for a second. “Wait a sec, so when you yelled ‘I love you’ durin’ the school festival-“

“Ha! You remember that?” Ren smirked, thinking back to that day. He’d half done it to divert the conversation from the Phantom Thieves, but he also enjoyed making Makoto all flustered. “Yeah, we were together then.”

“F’real man, how long have you two been a thing!?”

“I think, like… A little before Hawaii.”

“Is that why you disappeared and left me with Mishima!?”

“Yep.”

“Damn, dude. And I thought you were just lyin’ when you said you were with someone!” Ryuji shut up for a minute, processing this revelation. When he finally spoke again, he was much calmer. “Well, I guess I can forgive you for ditchin’ me to hang out with your girlfriend. But I’m still pissed that you’ve been datin’ Miss Prez for half a year and I’m only findin’ out about it now.”

“Sorry, Ryuji. I wasn’t hiding it from you. It just never came up.”

“Whatever, man.” Ryuji raised his eyebrow. “So…?”

“So what?”

“So… What’s it like?”

“What do you mean?”

“Bein’ with Makoto. I bet she goes all-out. Gets all Queen when you’re alone together, right?”

“Oh my god, we are _not_  having this conversation.”

“C’mon, you owe me some details!”

“I do not!”

“Just gimme a hint! Have you guys gone all the way yet?”

“That’s none of your business!”

“So you still ain’t scored? After this long? That’s just sad.”

“I didn’t say that!” Ren was blushing. This is not how he imagined today going.

“So you HAVE scored!”

“I didn’t say that either!”

“Okay, I’ll drop it.”

“Thank you.”

“But, like, what DO you guys do on dates?”

“Why do you wanna know so bad?”

“I guess I’m just curious what Miss Prez finds romantic. I figure it’s either all libraries or like, secret fight clubs.”

“Libraries, sometimes. Fight clubs…” Ren's eyes clouded up. He was in another world for a minute. A world where he was watching Makoto in a ring, wearing nothing but tight pants, a tank top, and some bandages wrapped around her fists. She was caving in the face of some other girl twice her size, her eyes full of fire. He got this dopey -- and notably lustful -- smile on his face. “I wish.”

“Whoa, dude!” Ryuji reached out and grabbed Ren by the arm, pulling him away from a tree he was about to run straight into. The two stopped running. “Stay with me!”

“Sorry. I was just-“

“Yeah, I know what you were doin’, lover boy. Let’s take a break.” Ryuji sat on the ground and leaned back against the tree, grinning wickedly. “So, that’s the kinda girl you’re into, huh?”

“There’s no ‘kind’, man.” Ren sat down next to Ryuji. “I’m into her. Everything about her. Just like, who she is as a person. She’s so smart, and she helps me with a lot of things I can’t deal with on my own. I think I’d be a wreck right now if it weren’t for her.”

“Whoa, dude.” Ryuji’s grin turned into a frown. “Are you serious?”

“I can open up to her about stuff I’d have trouble telling anyone else. Stuff that was eating away at me.”

“Man, Ren, I didn’t know you were goin’ through shit like that.” Ryuji sighed. “I know it’s not the same as a girlfriend, but you know you can ask me if you need help with anythin’, right? I’m here for you, bro.” Ryuji held out his fist.

“Yeah, I know.” This time, Ren completed the fist bump. As their fists connected, he got an idea. “Actually, there’s something you can help me with right now.”

“Yeah? What’s that?”

“It’s something I can’t even tell Makoto about yet. Get up.” Ren stood up as he said it. Ryuji followed his lead.

“This sounds heavy. What’s up?”

“Ryuji…” Ren put his hand on his friend’s shoulder, and looked him dead in the eyes, sheer determination in his expression. “I need you to punch me in the face.”

“Um… What?”

“Your fist. My face.” Ren took his hand off Ryuji’s shoulder. “Make it happen.”

“‘Kay… How do I put this?” Ryuji scratched his head for a few seconds, trying to find the words. “No.”

“Come on. I promise I won’t hit back.”

“Why?”

“I just need to figure something out. Be a pal and deck me.”

“I’m not just gonna slug you for no reason, you dumbass!”

“Damn it Sakomoto, I don’t want to start a fight over this! Just punch me in the goddamn face!”

“F’REAL!?”

“FOR REAL!”

“OKAY, FINE!” Ryuji wound up his shoulder and pulled his fist back. “HERE I GO!” Ryuji launched his arm forward.

“Wait, shit, STOP!” Ren threw up his hands in front of his face. Ryuji managed to change the direction of the punch just before connecting with them, and lost balance. He flailed around on one foot, just barely managing to stop himself from falling.

“What the eff, dude!? Make up your mind! Do you want me to punch you in the face or not!?”

“I do! Just…” Ren took off his glasses. “Okay, now.”

“You’re sure this time.”

“I’m sure.”

“Nothing else you wanna take care of? You don’t need to take a whizz or anything?”

“I’m good.”

“Because if you piss yourself I’m not gonna be held responsible for it.”

“Just hit me already!”

“Alright.” Ryuji took a big swing and smashed his fist directly into Ren's left eye. Ren reared back and screamed, bringing both hands up to his eye.

“OW! FUCK!”

“Oh shit dude, are you okay!? Lemme see!” Ryuji tried to pull Ren's hands away from his eye.

“MY FUCKING EYE! YOU ASSHOLE!”

“How am _I_ the asshole!? You’re the one who told me to punch you in the face!”

“I didn’t mean right in my eye!”

“I’m sorry, you didn’t give me any specific instructions when you asked me to **PUNCH YOU IN THE EFFIN’ FACE.** ”

“God damn!” Ren took his hands off his eye. The skin around it was completely swollen and a deep purple color. “It’s black, isn’t it?”

“Oh yeah.” Ryuji whistled.

“Shit!” Ren took a deep breath, and let it out. His demeanor became much calmer. “What am I gonna tell Boss?”

“I dunno. I just hope you got whatever you wanted outta that, because even though you _totally asked me to,_ I still feel like a bastard for hittin’ my best friend in the face.”

“Don’t.” Ren leaned against the tree for support. “You did good, Ryuji.”

“So…” Ryuji put his hands in his pockets, assuming his regular hunched-over pose. “You wanna tell me what all that was about?”

“Sure.” Ren went to rub his eye. He hissed in pain the second he made contact and pulled his hand away. “So, remember how we killed a god?”

“What, is that a joke? How could I forget?”

“Well, remember how we lost our ability to go into the Cognitive World and use our Personas?”

“Yeah, that sucked. It was cool that we saved the world and all, but still…”

“And you remember how I went to juvie immediately after that?”

“Where are you goin’ with this?”

“While I was locked up, I had a lot of time to think about a lot of things, none of them good.” Ren sat down again. “I went from saving humanity to rotting away in solitary almost immediately. One minute, I was the most powerful I’d ever been in my entire life. The next, I was completely powerless.”

“I know that how that feels.” Ryuji plopped down next to Ren, sitting on his good side. He stared at his right leg. “When my leg got broke, I went from bein’ this awesome track star to just some crippled no-good punk. As if not bein’ able to run anymore wasn’t bad enough, the way people treated me after…” Ryuji clenched his fist, tearing some grass out of the ground. “It was like a livin’ nightmare.”

“I bet. The only people I ever had contact with were the guards.” Ren held his water bottle against his eye. “The way they looked at me, I just wished I could do something about it. It made me so mad!”

“I get that.” Ryuji gave Ren a confused look. “But I still don’t get what this has gotta do with me punchin’ you in the face.”

“Becoming Joker came at the time I needed it most. I had the power to fight back against all the world’s bullshit. I felt invincible. I didn’t even mind getting hit in battle. It was kinda thrilling, made the fight feel real, feel worth it somehow. Like the pain was a sign that I was on the right track.”

“So what, are you tellin’ me you’re one of those mass o’ cats? Cuz’ I think that’s somethin’ you oughta be takin’ up with your girlfriend.” Ryuji elbowed Ren. “If anyone can take care of that, it’s Queen, right?”

“No, Ryuji, I’m not a maso _chist._ ” Ren rolled the one eye that wasn’t in pain. “But almost every good thing I’ve done this past year has been accomplished with force. I asked you to hit me because I needed to know if I could go back to a normal life, and that I wasn’t some psycho violence-obsessed aggro time bomb just waiting to go off.”

“And…?”

“And I’m good.” Ren turned his face towards Ryuji, giving him a view of his black eye. “Getting hit fucking sucks. I don’t wanna live a life where it happens anymore.”

“I coulda toldja that, you dumbass!” Ryuji and Ren both started laughing. Suddenly, Ryuji’s laughter stopped and his face grew worried. “Aw shit.”

“What’s wrong?”

“We were so focused on bringin’ you home that I didn’t think about any of that stuff ’til now.” Ryuji put his hands on his head. “Aw man, my whole life was all about the Phantom Thieves for a while. What if _I_ can’t go back!?”

“Shit. Sorry for putting that into your head, Ryuji.”

“Don’t be sorry, just hit me!”

“What?”

“The test! We gotta see how I’ll react to it! Punch _me_ in the face!”

“I don’t know if-“

“You don’t get to refuse after all that shit you just put me through! Accept responsibility, damn it!”

“Ok.” Ren delivered a quick rabbit punch to Ryuji’s chin.

“Son of a bitch!” Ryuji brought his hand up to his chin. Although nowhere near as bad as Ren's black eye, it was starting to bruise. He clacked his jaw a few times to check that nothing was out of place. “You coulda given me a minute to prepare, you bastard!”

“After what you did to my eye?” Ren smirked at Ryuji. “I’d say we’re even.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Ryuji clacked his jaw a few more times, just to be sure.

“So, how do you feel?”

“Not that bad, actually. But I don’t feel like I need superpowers to deal with this, so I’m good.”

“Awesome.” Ren slowly stood up. “You wanna get some grub?”

“I dunno…” Ryuji rubbed his chin. “Maybe I shouldn’t be chewin’ stuff right now.”

“You can talk just fine, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then you can eat. Come on. Let’s get Big Bang Burger.”

“Sounds good.” Ryuji got up and the two headed for the park’s exit.

“So how are we gonna explain our injuries?” Ren asked. “We need a cover story.”

“Oh! I got an idea! So, you and I were at the gym, right? And I was hittin’ a punchin’ bag, and you were holdin’ it in place for me.”

“Ok…”

“So then, you start screwin’ around and move it out of my way, and I accidentally hit you in the eye!”

“Sounds good so far. But how do we explain your chin?”

“You hit me back in revenge?”

“That doesn’t sound like me.”

“We could say I just tripped over somethin’. Everybody’d believe that, right?”

“They’re gonna see right through this, aren’t they?”

“Yup.”

“We’re gonna get a big lecture.”

“Mmhm.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this one with the goal of being less angsty than the previous chapter. Thankfully, Ryuji lends himself to comedy easily.


	3. The Oracle's Sight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Futaba's never really considered the ethics of spying on her friends. But once Ren is released from juvenile hall, she winds up hearing some things she shouldn't.

“Hey, Futaba? Could you open up?”

It’s funny. Sojiro was knocking on the door to Futaba’s room because he was worried about her, but as his knuckles rapped against the wood, a part of him couldn’t help but smile. Not too long ago, this door was covered in yellow tape signifying to keep out. Back then, it wasn’t a normal door, a simple slab of wood that compartmentalized a bit of space and provided some privacy to whoever was behind it. At that time, it was an immutable barrier, the first and last line of defense between a suffering child and the cruel world that had shattered her psyche into a million pieces.

But these days, it was just a door. And it opened. And there she stood, not timid, not acting out, not trying to run or hide from anything. Futaba Sakura. His daughter. A healthy, whole person.

“Hey Sojiro. What’s up?”

“Um…” The casual and mellow reception made him feel silly for what he was about to ask, but he’d come here with a purpose and couldn’t back out now. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?” She peered at him through those big round glasses like he’d grown a second head. He was feeling more ridiculous by the moment, but fatherly concern kept him going.

“Well, you haven’t been by the cafe in a few days, so I thought I’d come see if you were doing alright.” He managed to put on a smile for her. “I was getting used to having you around, you know.”

“Oh.” There was a note of sadness in her voice. “I just… Haven’t been feeling it lately. But I’ll probably be back soon, ok?”

“If you say so.” Sojiro rubbed the back of his head. “But you know, if there _is_ something wrong, you can always talk to me about it. Or Ren, if that would make you more comfortable.”

“Ren…” The way she said the boy’s name made Sojiro believe that she hadn’t meant to say it out loud, or even realized that she did.

“He’s only going to be around for a few more weeks, you know. So if you have anything to tell him, now’s the time.” Sojiro was about to walk away, when a thought crossed his mind. “Say, you’re not avoiding him, are you?”

“Wh-what makes you think that!? What possible reason could I have for not wanting to see Ren!?”

Bingo.

“I don’t know. I just hope it’s not something like you’re trying to cut yourself off from him so it’ll be less painful when he leaves.”

“That’s… not what’s happening.”

“Ok, good. Because it won’t work, and you’ll just wind up regretting the time you could’ve spent with him but didn’t.” Sojiro’s heart felt heavy. Futaba had come so far, but when the girl clammed up, he just didn’t have what it took to get her to spill the beans. For now, all he could do was hope she’d come around in her own time. “Let me know if you need anything, ok?”

“‘Kay. Later, Sojiro.”

Futaba closed the door to her room, and slowly trudged her way over to her computer chair. She climbed in and assumed her regular gargoyle-like crouch. Sojiro was right. She was avoiding Ren. But not for the reason he thought. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see him. That couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s that she couldn’t see him. It would be too awkward. Because Ren didn’t know it, but Futaba had wronged him.

She was always so proud of her technological prowess. Even when she blamed herself for her mother’s suicide and wanted to die, there was some part of Futaba that found enjoyment in the act of hacking, first as Medjed, then as Alibaba. Reading peoples’ chat logs, their e-mail, their personal documents, all the things they believed to be private, was exhilarating. Just knowing that she could do it gave Futaba the will to go on. She had been ostracized by her peers and abused by adults, but she could gain access to everything they wanted to keep private with ease. Secret exchanges with people they’d never admit to associating with. Overviews of their entire credit card history. If she wanted to do something as petty and small as mess with somebody’s social media account, that was her prerogative. Of course, she very rarely did those things. But just knowing she had that power gave some kind of meaning to her worthless existence, even if it didn’t cancel out all the bad things that she was.

The act of bugging also fascinated Futaba. It was kind of like hacking, but analog. It was next-level by being last-level, something that took more risk and produced an equal or lesser amount of reward. Still, people didn’t put everything on their computers. Some things were just said, thoughts allowed to travel through the air, existing in the moment then gone forever. Getting the equipment was easy enough. Sojiro would buy Futaba just about anything she wanted, and he very rarely understood the nature of what he was getting for her. If she was crafty enough, she could probably get him to buy her all the components for a bomb. Obviously, she would never take advantage of his kindness like that. Sojiro was the only light in a dark world, the one person who showed her kindness or caring, even if she didn’t believe she deserved it. So when she learned that he was taking in a delinquent — some punk teenager who was dangerous enough to successfully assault a full-grown man — she knew she had to step up and keep an eye on him. She managed to leave the house just long enough to bug LeBlanc, and it didn’t take too long to isolate and hack into this new problem child’s cell phone.

Of course, at the time, Futaba never would’ve guessed that this troublemaker Sojiro was potentially endangering himself by associating with was actually one of the bravest, most kind-hearted, most loving people in the world. Never mind the surprise of learning that he was the leader of the Phantom Thieves, or that she’d eventually be inducted into the group herself. Ren Amamiya, the boy she thought would be a monster, wound up becoming part of her family. He and his friends fixed her heart and pushed her to rejoin the world. She could go out on her own now, ride the subway, even deal with crowds to a certain extent. And it was all thanks to Ren. He had become one of the most important people in her life, practically an older brother… and she had thanked his kindness by betraying him.

Futaba hadn’t thought anything of all the hacks and bugs she still had active once she joined the Phantom Thieves. After all, hacking Ren's phone is how she came to be a member in the first place. She didn’t think of her continued probing as spying, she just thought of it as keeping in touch with her friends. It allowed her to be with them even when she couldn’t be in their proximity, like when they all went on that trip to Hawaii. It helped her to keep an eye on her family, not because she thought anything bad was going to happen, but just because she cared about them and wanted to know what they were up to. Hearing Sojiro teaching Ren about the different kinds of coffee beans he kept around was fun. Being a witness to their bonding moments filled her heart with joy. And really, what was the harm in hearing that kind of thing? It’s not like Futaba was listening in 24/7 or anything. She had other things to keep her interest. Sometimes it was just nice to nice to keep an eye on the homestead, was all.

And then, Valentine’s Day happened. Futaba hadn’t been planning on spying on Ren. She’d wanted to spend the day with him, helping Sojiro in LeBlanc and visiting him upstairs when things were slow as he just relaxed on his first day out of juvenile hall. And things were usually slow, so it’d really be more like a day of gaming and chatter while washing the occasional plate. But the best laid plans… something something. She didn’t know the expression. What she did know was that she couldn’t just chill at LeBlanc on the 14th. Turns out, the cafe got really popular on Valentine’s Day, and while she could handle working _or_ a large crowd, she couldn’t handle both. Ren had to start work a day earlier than he intended, and so all Futaba could do to get close to even spending a little time with him was listen in on the activity in LeBlanc.

Once the cafe closed, Futaba was planning on heading over and finally saying hi. But then she heard Makoto walk in. Normally one of the Phantom Thieves showing up at LeBlanc would only be more incentive for her to head over, but this was different. Futaba knew about Makoto and Ren's relationship, and she was rooting for them. After Sojiro and Ren, Makoto was probably the person who showed Futaba the most kindness. She felt close to all the Phantom Thieves, even that stupid Inari, but Makoto was just a few steps away from being a big sister to Futaba. And one of those steps was her getting married to her pseudo-brother Ren so she could become an official member of the family LeBlanc. So there was no way Futaba was gonna jeopardize Plan Best Family by playing third wheel.

Of course, that didn’t mean she wasn’t gonna listen in on their date. She wasn’t a voyeur or anything. If stuff sounded like it was getting hot and heavy, she’d unplug in a heartbeat. But for now, this was prime entertainment. It was hilarious how Ren could make the smart and headstrong Makoto all confused and flustered. She particularly liked when he broke out a Sojiro impression. That was something Ren and Futaba had practiced behind her dad’s back for a long time. And while Futaba couldn’t see, it sounded like Ren'd pulled some kind of trick involving chocolate to steal a kiss from Makoto. It was hilarious and dorky and kinda cool all at once, and she was really and truly about to stop listening right there, but then the evening took a strange turn. Ren and Makoto started arguing. And strictly speaking, that wasn’t Futaba’s business, but it sounded like Ren was hurting over his time in juvenile hall, and how could she ignore that? And Makoto did… something. Futaba wasn’t sure what. It took a lot of prodding and goading, but Makoto got Ren to open up to her, to share his pain. And Futaba listened to the whole thing, even though she knew she shouldn’t be. Makoto had put in all the work to get Ren to share his feelings. The words he spoke were meant for her ears only. Futaba even heard him crying at one point, and she’d never seen him cry before. She didn’t think he could. He was always so strong. Everybody’s rock. Ren opened up to Makoto because she was somebody he felt like he could trust with his whole heart, and Futaba was spying on it. For the first time since her palace collapsed, Futaba was disgusted with herself.

Futaba completely stopped listening in on things after that. She figured that maybe if she gave it a few days, she’d be able to go see Ren without feeling like a terrible person. She wasn’t sure if she’d be able to tell him everything she heard, but she’d at least be able to look him in the eye.

Yup. His eye. That raised a new problem in itself. Futaba was just about to step out of her room and see Ren, when her phone lit up. It was a text from Ann.

> OMG! What happened to Ryuji and Ren!?

Futaba had no idea what she was talking about, but her heart started racing.

> What do you mean? Are they in trouble!? (o_O)
> 
> Their faces are all messed up. Ryuji’s got this nasty bruise on his chin and Ren has a black eye!
> 
> Whoa! Did they get in a fight!?
> 
> They won’t tell me! I was hoping you knew!
> 
> I think I’ve firmly established that I don’t. ლ(ಠ_ಠ ლ) Do you have ANY ideas?
> 
> All they’re saying is not to worry about it. Why do boys have to act so tough all the time!?

Something was wrong if Ren had a black eye and wouldn’t tell anybody how he got it. Was he being bullied? Or threatened? What did Ryuji have to do with it? Futaba’s curiosity took over, and while she didn’t like the idea, she knew how to find out. Even if she wasn’t actively listening in, her bugs were always recording. She had hours of audio recorded by Ren's phone. Yes, she was already feeling guilty for having spied on Ren before, but if he was in some kind of danger, it was her duty to find out. This couldn’t be ignored.

Futaba combed through the past few days of Ren's recordings until she found the day he was with Ryuji. Finally, she could learn what happened to the two of them. She listened to the recording intently. She heard Ren and Ryuji meeting up, running quietly for a bit, nothing that odd. Then the two started talking about Makoto, and Futaba began to feel guilty. Maybe she should just stop this altogether.

_“Get a grip! This is totally different! If Ren had a random encounter with some ogre or something, we all deserve to know about it!”_

Any minute now, Futaba would have her answer. There would be some mugger, or a bully, or some malicious animal handler with a big lizard specially trained to headbutt people in the face. It had to be one of those things. Some malevolent outsider attacking her friends. Instead, Futaba heard Ren say something completely unexpected.

> “Ryuji… I need you to punch me in the face.”

_“WHAT THE HELL!?”_

And so, once again, Futaba found herself listening to another emotional scene. This time, Ren was telling Ryuji about his feelings of frustration over losing his Persona. It was a feeling Futaba understood as well. Sure, Necronomicon and then Prometheus didn’t have her in direct combat, but she still helped the team save the world with her intel-gathering and buffs. She was the all-important passive support character in the Phantom Thieves’ line-up, and now, she…

Well, honestly, she was the least weakened out of all of them. The Phantom Thieves were able to change society thanks to a unique ability that let them bring bad people to justice undetected. Fundamentally, Futaba could still do that with her hacking skills. She wasn’t going to go back to being full Medjed, and honestly she wasn’t even sure if she wanted to continue being Alibaba anymore either, but the option was there. But Ren and Ryuji were fighters. And fighting wasn’t really a thing you could get away with in the real world. This was something Ren had wanted to talk to Ryuji about because even though he was an idiot meathead, Ryuji understood that kind of aggression and powerlessness. It wasn’t meant for Futaba’s ears. That was twice she had violated Ren's trust now.

That was yesterday. It had been almost a week since Futaba had seen Ren. Outside of his time in prison, of course, that was the longest she’d gone without seeing him since her Palace fell. But it had taken so long before she got past her first bit of guilt before she could see him, and now doing something else made things worse. She’d done two guilty things, but they weren’t just adding up. It definitely felt like more than two guilts. Her guilt was growing exponentially. No, wait… One guilt times one guilt is still one guilt. Clearly guilt math didn’t work like normal math. This was more like the new guilt had brought back the old guilt, and now she was feeling another guilt because of the fact that there were two guilts. Futaba was dealing with three guilts! How long would that take to go away!? It was like one of those extended debuffs the Shadows would keep casting on the Phantom Thieves sometimes! As long as Futaba stopped herself from casting self-targeted Guiltkajas any time soon, maybe she’d be able to face Ren before he left.

There was another knock at Futaba’s bedroom door. She hopped out of her chair and slowly made her way over.

“Again? What is it now, Sojiro?”

Futaba opened her door, but Sojiro wasn’t on the other side. Ren was.

“Hi!” Ren had a big dumb smile on and did a stupid wave. Futaba couldn’t help but stare at his black eye.

“R-Ren! W-what are you doing here!?”

“We haven’t really hung out lately, so I asked Boss to give me the afternoon off so I could come over. Business is pretty much dead today, so he let me.”

“Oh, he did now, did he?” Stupid meddling Sojiro. Trying to get her past her emotional problems. What kind of weirdo parent did that sort of thing!?

“Yeah. So I figured we could try out this new game I got at the second-hand shop!”

“I don’t have any retro consoles here, though.” Futaba had to get rid of Ren without letting him realize she didn’t want to see him. “And I don’t feel like going out today. Can we do this another time?”

“I got us covered!” Ren reached into his pocket and pulled out an old purple Game Boy Color. “I just got this handheld thing! Now we can play games anywhere!”

“Oh! Uh… great!” Futaba overclocked her brain trying to think of a way to make Ren leave. She clutched her stomach and doubled over, moaning. “Uuuuggggghhh…”

“Futaba! Are you okay!?”

“I think I had some bad ramen earlier. I feel like I’m gonna- HURK!“ Futaba puffed up her cheeks and covered her mouth. “Oh man, it’s coming any second now! You better get outta here!”

“Don’t worry! I’ve got you!” Ren used one hand to collect all of Futaba’s stray hair and hold it in a makeshift ponytail behind her head, and put another on her back, pushing her out of the room and into the hallway. “We’re just lucky I’ve worked in a bar! Now where’s the bathroom in this place?”

_“Why did you pretend to be sick, moron!? Of course he wants to help now!”_

“Ren… I don’t think I’m gonna make it…” Futaba fell to her knees. For somebody who was used to squatting, even when sitting in furniture, it was profoundly uncomfortable. “Save yourself…”

“C’mon, Futaba! Get up!” Ren grabbed Futaba’s shoulders, trying to pull her to her feet. “You just have to hold it in for a few seconds! Now which one of these doors is the bathroom?”

“Ren… You gotta go…”

“Nonsense!” Ren opened a door right next to him, revealing the bathroom. “Found it! You don’t even have to stand up, just move forward a bit! Let’s go, Futaba!”

“Ren, just leave!”

“What about- WHOA!” Futaba pushed Ren at his waist, causing him to fall over and hit the tile floor of the bathroom. He shielded his head and landed on his side. It hurt, but not too much for him to slowly roll onto his back and sit up. He looked over at Futaba, who clearly wasn’t sick, but did seem to be upset about something. “Futaba, did I do something wrong?”

“No, Ren.” Futaba sniffled and her eyes started to water. “I did.”

“Oh, Futaba…” Ren got on his knees and shuffled over to her. “Whatever it is, I’m sure we can fix it together.”

“No we can’t!”

“Futaba, don’t worry.” Ren reached his hand out to pat her head. It was his way of calming her down. “I’m sure it can’t be that bad.”

“Just stop!” Futaba smacked Ren's hand away.

“Futaba, please!” Ren put his hand on her shoulder and looked her in the watery eyes. “What did you do that’s so bad that you don’t think you can tell me about it?”

“I can’t tell you because… Because…” Tears were starting to roll down Futaba’s cheeks. “Because I did it to you!”

“What are you talking about? I’m fine!”

“I can’t tell you!” Futaba jumped to her feet and ran back into her bedroom. Ren tried running after her, but she slammed the door and locked it.

“Futaba, come on!” Ren banged on the door. “Open up!”

“No!”

“Tell me what’s going on!”

“No! It’ll just upset you!”

“Futaba, I’m upset now!”

Hearing Ren echo the words Makoto had said to him that night caused her to scream at the top of her lungs.

“Futaba! Are you ok!?”

Futaba didn’t answer.

“I’m sorry about this, but you’re not leaving me any choice!” Ren reached into his pocket and pulled out a lockpick. Even though the Phantom Thieves had officially disbanded, he still had a ton of them lying around. Ever since he and Haru had accidentally locked themselves on the roof while gardening once, Ren made sure to carry one with him at all times. “I’m coming in!”

Futaba squealed as she heard the lock being fiddled with and dashed over to her wardrobe. She hopped inside and slid the door shut behind her. She didn’t really know what she hoped to accomplish. It’s not like the wardrobe even had a lock. If he really wanted to, Ren could open it easily. She just wanted any kind of barrier between them.

Ren stepped into Futaba’s room. Not seeing her anywhere, he walked over to the wardrobe.

“Futaba, are you in there?”

“No!”

Ren rolled his eyes. “Open the door, Futaba.”

“No!”

“You know I can just open this thing if I want to, right?”

“I’ll hold it shut!”

“That won’t work. I’m a lot stronger than you.”

There was no response from inside the wardrobe.

“Well? Futaba?”

“Please don’t open the door.”

“Alright, I’ll make you a deal.” Ren leaned his back against the wardrobe door. “Whatever’s going on, clearly you feel like you can’t say it to my face. So I won’t open the door, but you gotta tell me what’s going on, okay?”

“I don’t wanna!”

“Futaba, please!” Ren sunk to the ground, his back still against the wardrobe. “I don’t know what you think is going on between us, but I don’t want it to stay that way. And I don’t think you do either. Just talk to me.”

“Fine.” Futaba squatted in her wardrobe, sitting in the darkness. “Ren, I spied on you.”

“That’s it?” Ren shook his head and laughed. “Don’t get me wrong, if you’re finally starting to feel bad for spying on people, I’m not saying that isn’t a change for the better. But you spy on us all the time. What’s the big deal?”

“This was different. I heard some stuff I wasn’t supposed to hear.”

“Oh yeah?” Ren's tone was teasing. “Given what a little snoop you are, I’m curious what you mean by that.”

“Like you and Makoto on Valentine’s Day.”

“Oh.” Ren's tone sobered up.

“I didn’t mean to! It just happened! You guys were flirting and it was so funny, but then you got upset and I wanted to make sure nothing was wrong and then I heard a ton of stuff I wasn’t supposed to!”

“I see.” Futaba could hear Ren's sigh from the other side of the door.

“And there’s more!”

“Oh yeah?” Ren was still speaking in a low tone with almost no energy.

“I heard the stuff you said to Ryuji too.”

“Was that an ‘accident’ too?”

“Kinda. Ann told me you got hurt and I wanted to make sure you weren’t in any trouble! So I listened to a bunch of old logs and heard your conversation!”

“You keep _logs!?_ ” 

“Do you hate me now?”

“Of course not!” Ren stretched out his legs on the floor before him. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not happy that you heard all that stuff. But I don’t hate you for it.”

“I’m really, really sorry, Ren.”

“I know, Futaba.”

“Do you think you can forgive me?”

“It’ll take some time.”

“How much time?”

“That depends.”

“On what?”

“Did you realize you shouldn’t be listening to those conversations while they were happening, or did it occur to you later?”

“I realized during.”

“Yeah, I figured. You’re smart like that.” Even though Futaba felt like she was about to get lectured, there was some part of her that couldn’t help but feel happy at Ren's compliment. “So once you realized what was going on, why did you keep listening?”

“How could I not?” That happiness in Futaba was squashed instantly. “It was a really big deal.”

“And you just felt like you had to listen?”

“I guess. I just…” Futaba trailed off. It was hard for her to put her feelings into words.

“Just what?”

“I don’t know. I just hadn’t really talked to you since you got home and I had meant to come over to LeBlanc but everything was so busy that day, then I didn’t wanna be a third wheel on your big Valentine’s date and…” Even with the wardrobe acting as a barrier, Futaba could feel the full force of the awkwardness. “Ren, why didn’t you tell me any of that stuff?”

“It wasn’t just you, Futaba. I didn’t tell Boss or Haru or Yusuke or Ann or anybody that stuff. Not even Morgana knows.”

“You told Makoto and Ryuji.”

“My relationships with them are different.”

“I thought our relationship was different.” Ren couldn’t see it, but he just knew that tears were coming out of Futaba’s eyes again. “I thought we were family.”

“We are!” Ren twisted his arm around and put his hand on the wardrobe door. “You know you’re just as important to me as those two are, right?”

“So why could you tell them and not me!?”

“Because I didn’t think you deserved it.”

“‘Deserve it’!?” Futaba wasn’t just crying anymore. She was angry now. “What does that mean!? How can you say we have a special bond then tell me I don’t deserve to hear what’s bothering you!? Am I not good enough!?”

“Don’t twist my words like that, Futaba. That’s not what I mean.”

“So what **do** you mean!?”

“When I say ‘deserve’, I’m not acting like knowing my deepest thoughts is some kind of prize.” Ren sat up straight. “You’ve been through so much. You spent two years in a really bad place. Compared to that, the six weeks I spent locked up is nothing. I didn’t want to burden you.”

“So what? It’s not that you don’t trust me, it’s just that you think I’m weak?”

“To be fair, you’re hiding from me in your closet right now. That’s what you were doing when we first met.”

“Hey! I’m not hiding from the whole world anymore, just you specifically!” Futaba banged on the door. “This is totally different!”

“I guess, yeah. Look Futaba, it’s not that I think you’re weak. It’s the opposite." Ren's mood brightened a bit. "You’ve come so far since the summer. You’re happy and getting out into the world. You were even talking about going back to school. I didn’t want to ruin any of that by bothering you with my petty problems.”

“That’s ridiculous! Being hurt isn’t a competition, Ren! There’s no leaderboard! You don’t need to rank up your pity points before you can challenge me!” Futaba banged on the door again. “Is this ‘cuz I called you my key item? Because I don’t need you to be that anymore.”

“You don’t?”

“Yeah. I don’t wanna just play ‘Futaba Quest’ if you need something. Friendship is supposed to be a co-op game. If you’re having trouble getting through a stage, I can be your Player 2.”

“I never thought of it like that.”

“That’s ‘cuz you’re dumb.”

“Compared to you, maybe. Not all of us have your natural genius.” Ren was about to laugh, but groaned instead. “I’m sorry for not giving you credit, Futaba. Can you forgive me?”

“Maybe. Can you forgive me for spying on you? Just because I want you to talk to me about this stuff doesn’t mean it wasn’t wrong of me to listen in.”

“Deal.”

“‘Kay then. I guess we’re even.” The door opened behind Ren. Futaba leaned forward, resting all her weight on him. He could feel her jaw plop down on the top of his head, and her arms came into view as they draped over his shoulders. “You really should be less dumb though.”

“I can’t help it. I get it from our dad.”

“Ooooooh! I’m telling Sojiro you said that!”

“Uh-huh.” Ren reached his arm over his head to poke Futaba’s cheek. “You do that and I’m telling him that you still have LeBlanc bugged.”

“Mutually assured destruction, huh?” Futaba snickered. “Maybe you’re not so dumb after all.”

“I have my moments.” Ren stood up, and Futaba kept leaning on him for support as she got up to her own feet. He turned around to face her. "You know that there'll still be times I talk to other people about things though, right? It's not that I don't trust you, it's just a comfort thing. I still haven't told Makoto about the stuff I talked about with Ryuji."

"What, are you afraid she'll punch your other eye when she finds out?"

"Kind of, yeah."

* * *

When Sojiro got home, he could hear voices coming from down the hall.

“Whoa! Our turtle guy got big!”

“Uh-huh!”

Sojiro walked into the kitchen to see Ren and Futaba sitting at the table with bowls of instant ramen, playing some kind of video game.

“Are those guns in his shoulders?” Ren asked.

“Yeah!” Futaba had a silly grin on her face. “That’s why I wanted to name him after Haru!”

“Oh. I thought it was because of those little fluffy hair-wing things he got when he stopped being a baby turtle.”

“Huh… that _does_ look like Haru! It’s like her essence in pocket monster form.”

“Having fun, you two?” Sojiro walked over to the kitchen table and looked down at the kids.

“Hey, Boss.” Ren looked up at Sojiro. Futaba still had her eyes fixated on the game. “You close up shop early?”

“What are you talking about? The sun’s been down for hours.”

“Wait, really?” Ren looked at his wristwatch. “Oh wow. Maybe it’s time to turn off the game for today, Futaba.”

“Sure, just lemme save.”

“You know, that’s not a very healthy dinner.” Sojiro pointed at the ramen bowls. “Do you have any idea how much salt is in that instant stuff?”

“Man cannot live on curry alone, Boss.”

“You’re young.” Sojiro put a hand on his hip and smirked at Ren. “In time, you’ll learn how wrong you truly are.”

“That’s right, Ren.” Futaba turned off the video game. She hunched over, put on a sour face, started stroking an invisible beard, and spoke in a deep voice. “Let me explain! Curry is the secret to a long and fulfilling life!”

“Of course!” Ren began mimicking Futaba’s actions. “Why, thanks to curry, I’ve lived for a hundred and fifty years, but I only appear to be half that age, and the women can’t keep their hands off me!” Futaba and Ren started laughing.

“You two keep that up, and neither of you will make it to twenty.” Sojiro’s tone was somewhere halfway between amusement and anger. He smiled and turned to Futaba. “So, can I expect to see you in the cafe tomorrow?”

“You can count on me! I’ll be there first thing in the morning!” Futaba scratched her chin. “Or, well, I might not go to sleep for a while, so maybe not ’til the afternoon.”

“But you’ll be there, right?” Ren asked.

“Nothing’s gonna keep me away!” Futaba gave Ren a thumbs up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one took so long to write. It was a staggered writing process where I spent a week trying to figure out just where I wanted to take it, and just wound up focusing on other stories in the meantime.
> 
> There's one more chapter written for this story (it's actually the first one written, it was gonna be stand-alone but I decided it fit well with the themes of the first two chapters I wrote), but I may have another new chapter I wanna write before then. I'll just have to try writing it and see how I like it. There will be at least one more installment.


	4. The Crow's Shadow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Several months after the fact, Ren finally comes to terms with Goro Akechi's death.

Three months. Practically a whole season.

That’s how long ago it was when Goro Akechi died in Shido’s Palace. And his funeral was only being held now that Shido had been convicted of all his crimes and had his true nature revealed to the world. Akechi had been on Ren's mind a lot lately, all thanks to a visit from Sae a couple weeks after he got out of jail. Ren was shocked to learn that Sae wanted his opinion on how they should handle the announcement of Akechi’s death. After all, before his sudden disappearance the “Detective Prince” was the talk of Tokyo. Rumors had been flying around for a while regarding what happened to him, and the public deserved some kind of closure, didn’t they?

“I don’t understand”, Ren said, handing Sae her usual cup of Jamaican Blue Mountain from over the counter. “Are you saying you want to cover up Akechi’s death?”

“Not at all.” Sae took a sip of coffee, then got distracted for a moment. Sojiro had really put in his time with this kid. This was almost as good as if the old man had made it himself. “And he hasn’t even been at it a year...” she thought out loud, staring into the cup. Ren waved his hand in front of Sae’s face.

“Hello? Sae-San?”

“Sorry.” Returned from her caffeinated stupor, she looked back up at Ren. “No, Ren-Kun, I don’t have any intention of covering up his death. But I do wonder if the public needs to know the particulars. Namely, the part where Goro Akechi was Masayoshi Shido’s tool in causing all of the mental shutdowns.”

“That doesn’t sound like you, Sae-San. I thought you were dedicated to exposing the truth. Or has black-dress Nijima taken over again?” Ren was, of course, referring to the Shadow Sae that the Phantom Thieves had fought inside her Casino Palace. They never actually collapsed her palace, so for all they knew, she was still in Sae’s heart somewhere. More than once, he and Makoto had discussed what an odd manifestation of her darker side it was. Other shadows had made sense, like Kamoshida as a pervert king and Okumura as some kind of galactic conqueror, but did Sae really on some level see herself as that maniac in that revealing black dress? Not that he disliked the dress. The goth make-up was a bit much, but the hat really brought the whole ensemble together. It didn’t take long for Ren's thoughts to turn to the image of Makoto wearing that same outfit.

This time, it was Sae’s hand in front of Ren's face. But it wasn’t waving, it was snapping its fingers.

“Sorry. Got lost in my memories.”

“I’m sure.” Between interrogating the boy during the Phantom Thief investigation and regularly grilling him once she learned he was dating her sister, Sae had gotten pretty good at telling when Ren Amamiya was lying to her. Not that it was hard. For somebody who’d flown under the radar for so long, “Joker” was surprisingly uncool under pressure, at least to a talented prosecutor like herself. But she decided not to press the issue. “The question at hand is what the point would be in revealing Akechi’s full role in the conspiracy.”

“I don’t understand what you mean, Sae-San.”

“I’ll try and make it simple, then.” Sae took another sip of her coffee. “Goro Akechi was a beloved public figure, like Shido was. Unlike Shido, he’s not alive to be brought to justice for his crimes. In addition, the fact that a teenage idol has been dead for several months will already be upsetting enough for people, so who knows what kind of reaction there would be if they learned he was secretly manipulating the public as cover for his many crimes?”

“So you’re asking what the point would be of tarnishing the public’s view of their hero post-mortem?” 

“So you do understand.”

“Not really. Why are you letting public opinion sway the facts? Isn’t the truth the most important thing?”

“Look,” Sae rubbed her temples. “If we release the full details about Akechi, it would only stir up more trouble. We’d have to fully disclose the existence of the Cognitive World to the public, and that would only cause more trouble for you kids.”

“I don’t see how. The Cognitive World is gone now, or at least our ability to interact with it is. It’s not like anybody could use it to hurt anybody anymore.”

“But that doesn’t mean we wouldn’t be painting a target on your backs.” Sae stared directly into Ren's eyes with a grim expression. “New details about Akechi and the Cognitive World ever having existed would only stir up further interest in the Phantom Thieves and Cognitive Psience. There could still be members of the conspiracy out there, powerful secret partners Shido failed to disclose or maybe didn’t even know about. Who’s to say that they wouldn’t send spies after you? Or your friends? Or your cat?”

“So you want to keep Akechi’s crimes a secret to protect Morgana?” Ren was smirking. “I don’t think they’d get much out of him in an interrogation.”

“Take this seriously!” Sae stood up from her bar stool, and Ren's smirk died instantly. In that moment, he couldn’t remember if Sae Nijima was actually three meters tall or not, but the look in her eyes made that estimate feel accurate. It was the same terrifying glare that Makoto had whenever they fought shadows. Apparently, ungodly fury was hereditary in the Nijima bloodline. “If some lunatic obsessed with Cognitive Psience learned that the teenagers who crippled their operation had a cat capable of sentient thought, what makes you think they wouldn’t want to dissect its brain!?”

“That’s dark, Sae-San.”

“Life is dark, Ren-Kun.” Sae sat down, drained the contents of her coffee cup, and took a deep breath. When she exhaled, the rage left her eyes, and the world seemed normal again. “I’m well aware that I’m jumping to the worst-case scenario here. Realistically, if any of those people had any ill intentions towards you, they probably would’ve done something already. But I don’t want Makoto, or you, or Sojiro, or any of your friends getting in trouble. There are already murmurs of government agents being assigned to keep an eye on you. Just because we cleared your name doesn’t mean they see you as one of the good guys.”

“That’s going to be a boring assignment.” Ren took the empty cup away. “It’ll just be a log of a normal teenager making coffee and then going home to a town where nothing interesting ever happens.”

“Let’s hope so.” Sae stood up again, calmly, this time. “I just thought that since you’re the one who had to deal with everything that happened, you should have a say in how it ends.”

“I see.” Ren took off his fake glasses to wipe a smudge from them. “Can I have some time to think about it?”

“I can give you a couple days.” Sae put her payment for the coffee on the counter. “I’d honestly just like to put this all behind me for good.”

“I understand. Later, Sae-San.”

“I’ll be in touch.”

Sae exited the cafe, leaving Ren alone with his thoughts.

“Akechi…”

Ren had mixed feelings about Goro Akechi. On one hand, he hated the lying bastard. From the first time they met in that TV studio, Ren felt like there was just something wrong about him. Obviously any public figure creates a specific persona for people to see, but the thing that was suspicious about Akechi was how in every conversation he had with Ren, he acted exactly the same way he did on TV. Whether it was during a chance meeting on a subway platform or one of his visits to LeBlanc, there was no discernible difference between Goro Akechi on screen and Goro Akechi in the flesh. To Ren, that left two possibilities; Either the boy was completely genuine all the time, or he was always hiding something. And maybe it was just bias since Akechi was the public voice of dissent when it came to the Phantom Thieves, but Ren always felt like it was the latter. And ultimately, he was right. Akechi was a psychopath. His entire life was fueled by spite. He ran a long con, trying to gain Ren's trust for months. He lied his way into the Phantom Thieves, betrayed them, and tried to kill Ren multiple times. And that was just the murder he failed. He killed Haru’s father. He killed Futaba’s mother and helped spiral the poor girl into two years of suicidal self-loathing and constant mental anguish. He ended and ruined countless lives he had nothing to do with all for some mad campaign to get close enough to his birth father so he could kill him too. And sure, Ren understood harboring a hatred of Shido more than anybody, but that was just messed up.

But at the same time, that wasn’t all Akechi was. Just like the Phantom Thieves’ masks revealed some hidden nature of their own, there was something real in the figurative mask Akechi wore in everyday life. The Detective Prince wasn’t genuinely kind and caring about others, but Ren believed that on some level, he wanted to be those things. That he took interest in Ren and the Phantom Thieves not just because of his role in Yaldabaoth’s game, but because he sensed some kind of kindred spirit. Akechi was similar to the Phantom Thieves. He had a rough go at life, got mistreated a lot, didn’t fit in anywhere, and wanted to do something about it. When you got down to it, Akechi was a hurt child crying out for attention. He pretended to be this ally of justice for the sake of popularity, and while the other Phantom Thieves entered the cognitive world with realistic-looking weapons and wore outfits that reflected their rebellious spirit, Akechi played superhero dress-up and fought with flashy toys. Hell, Ren still had a couple of those lying in his storage box in his room. He wasn’t sure if Iwai would buy actual children’s toys off of him. Just thinking about it that way made him feel worse for his… rival? Is that what they were? Ren still wasn’t sure. And in the end, Akechi wound up saving all of their lives, getting killed by his own cognitive clone in Shido’s head in the process.

When you looked at the whole picture, Goro Akechi envied Ren and everything he had, and everything about him made Ren wonder “What if?” What if he discovered the Cognitive World on his own? Would he have spared Kamoshida like Ann did? What if he just became this lonely disturbed wanderer with a power he didn’t understand, lashing out at injustice without any companions to temper his rage? Without his friends, Ren was nothing. And so as he pondered the question that Sae gave him, it only made sense to get their opinions on it. Luckily for Ren, one person whose opinion mattered the most was right there in Yongen-Jaya with him. These days, she was usually just outside his front door. 

“Futaba? Are you out here?”

Sure enough, there she was, squatting in the alleyway LeBlanc was connected to, playing some game on her phone. She didn’t even look up at Ren, just threw him a V sign.

“Greetings, attic-dweller!”

“Can you pause your game? I need to talk to you about something.”

“Hmmm…” Futaba scratched her chin with one hand, still playing with her phone in the other hand. “‘Kay.” She closed the app and put her phone away, looking up at Ren. “So, what did big Nijima want? Was she demanding a dowry for her sister’s hand in marriage?”

“No, we already figured that out a while back. One million yen and a live chicken.”

“That seems low for a student council president. I’m telling Queen.”

“Please don’t. If she learns I skimped on the chickens she’ll kick my ass.”

“You’d like it.”

“Maybe.” Ren sat down next to Futaba. “Sae did ask me an important question, and I need your help figuring out the answer.”

“Huh!?” Futaba half-jumped from the shock of that statement, dislodging her headphones. She scrambled to put them back in place, taking care not to tangle them up in her long hair. It's true that she and Ren had a talk about him opening up to her about his problems no too long ago, but him actually doing it came as a surprise. “Th-that’s not how this goes! When it comes to life and non-tech stuff, _I’m_ supposed to ask _you_ for help! Unless… Is this the part of the story where the heroine finally assumes her role as the chosen one and the mentor who can no longer teach her becomes her follower? Because if so, I accept! But you better not leave me to fight a Balrog, even if you do come back later! Nobody wants to see Joker the White!”

“‘The white?’” Ren was trying very hard to suppress a facepalm. He thought he’d be used to Futaba’s weird way of processing the world by now, but she always found a new way to confuse him. He had basically been inside her mind and still didn’t understand how it worked most of the time. “Look, it’s about Akechi.”

“Oh.” All the energy Futaba had suddenly seemed to disappear. Bringing him up was still a sore spot for her, and Ren could barely hear her mumbled reply. “What about him?”

“Sae-San says that now that Shido’s being fully prosecuted, it’s the right time to announce his death. But she’s not sure if we should reveal all the details, about him being the tool for the cognitive shutdowns and his role in Shido’s conspiracy.”

“Why not? Isn’t she all about revealing the truth and stuff? Sounds pretty simple to me.”

“That’s what I thought.” Ren explained Sae’s concerns about the public’s reaction, the conspiracy, all of it. “It’s a lot to think about.”

“Yeah. I don’t want anything to happen to Mona…” Futaba started mumbling something under her breath. Ren couldn’t make it out. It seemed like she was crunching a lot of data in her head. Suddenly, she put her hands on her head and yelled in frustration. “AAAAAHHHHH! This is too much! Why are you asking me!?”

“Because Akechi had a lot of victims. And one of those victims was… You know…”

“My mom.” Futaba went quiet for a moment. “I… don’t know what you should do, ok? I don’t wanna think about this.”

“I get it.” Ren patted Futaba on the head. It was something he did to comfort her in her moments. The first time he tried it she wasn’t receptive to it, but he’d gotten better at it over time. “I’m sorry for bringing it up.”

“You better be! You’re making this up to me later!”

“Uh-huh.” Ren stood up, an amused smirk on his face. Just a couple months ago he would’ve worried he’d broken Futaba. This quick emotional recovery showed just how far she’d come.

“I mean it, Ren! I want something sweet! Like castella! Or taiyaki!”

“You’re the brattiest kid I’ve ever met, you know that?” As Ren headed back into Leblanc, Futaba stuck her tongue out at him.

The phone rang as Ren walked through the front door. He picked it up before the second ring.

“Cafe LeBlanc. How may I help you?”

“Good afternoon, Ren-Kun!” came Haru’s voice from the phone, cheerful as ever. “Is Boss there? I’d like to bring over my newest batch of coffee beans and get his opinion!”

“Boss is out today checking out some new roasting equipment. He wants to see if it’s time for an upgrade like Futaba keeps telling him. If you want, you could bring by the beans and I could ask him to look at them when he gets back.”

“Oh, no, that’s fine. I’ll just come by tomorrow!”

“Actually, Haru, do you think you could come over anyway?”

“Hm? Is something wrong, Ren-Kun?”

“Not exactly. I need to talk to you about something important, and I'd rather not do it over the phone. I wouldn’t normally ask you to come all the way over to Yongen, but since I have to mind the shop and you were planning on coming anyway-“

“Say no more! I’ll be there as quickly as I can! See you soon!” And before he could reply, Ren heard the phone click.

* * *

Ren waited around for a while, cleaning the tabletops out of boredom. He poked his head outside to see if Futaba was still there, but she’d already gone home. After about half an hour, he sat down to read a book about a master swordsman. He was already about two-thirds of the way through it. No customers showed up while he was reading, and by the time he closed the book’s back cover another two hours had passed and the sun was already going down. Ren pulled out his phone to see if Haru had sent him a message cancelling, but there were no texts. He was pulled away from his screen by the ringing of the bell as the front door opened.

“Sorry I’m late!” Haru came bursting into the cafe, panting. While she was already hunched over catching her breath, she started to try and bow forward even more in apology. She abandoned this action after she lost balance and had to catch herself on a table. Ren led her to sit down.

“Are you ok?”

“I’m fine! But right as I was about to make my way here Takakura-San came by to ask me for some design ideas for the cafe and I couldn’t just leave because it was urgent business! Then my car got stuck in rush hour and I was going to call the cafe again but worried you may be with customers looking to be refreshed right after getting off work so-“

“Haru, it’s fine.” Ren considered getting her some coffee, but then had second thoughts about giving her caffeine in her current state. “I’m just glad you made it.”

“Alright then!” And just like that, Haru regained her composure and assumed her normal chipper demeanor. Suddenly, she looked over Ren's shoulder. “Oh! Hello, Mona-Chan!”

“Huh?” Ren turned around to see Morgana coming down the stairs. “Morgana, what are you doing down here? You know Boss doesn’t want you hanging around the shop while it’s open.”

“Please, I haven’t heard a peep in hours”, Morgana said. It was odd talking to him these days. Ever since the collapse of the Metaverse, Ren's mental image of Morgana as this anthropomorphized cartoon creature had disappeared. He wasn’t sure if it was the two months he’d spent imprisoned without seeing Morgana or some greater cognitive mumbo-jumbo at work, but these days when he looked at his friend all he could see was a cat, and it was very strange to see human speech coming out of a cat’s mouth. “Good evening, Haru! What brings you to our humble home?”

“Ren-Kun asked me to come by. He said he wanted to talk to me about something important.”

“Oh?” Morgana leapt up on the table, giving Ren a smug look. Or at least, he thought it was a smug look. He wasn’t really sure if cats had facial expressions, but knowing Morgana, smugness was a safe bet. “What about? Does _your girlfriend_ know what you’re up to right now?”

“What!? It’s nothing like that!” Ren pointed towards the stairs. “Look, I promise I’ll fill you in later, but right now I’d like to have a private conversation with just Haru, so would you please go back upstairs?”

“Fine.” Morgana jumped down from the table and slowly started to make his way out of the room. “Just remember, Joker; Women aren’t like Personas. There can only be room in your heart for one.”

“Get out of here!” Ren groaned as Morgana scampered up the stairs and Haru giggled. She gave him a moment for his frustration to pass before resuming the conversation.

“So what did you want to talk to me about?”

Once again, Ren found himself recounting his conversation with Sae. Haru listened intently, a serious but not-worried look on her face, nodding every once in a while. When Ren finished, she waited a moment to make sure he was done speaking.

“I can see how that would feel like too large of a decision to come to on your own. Have you talked to any of the others about this yet?”

“Just Futaba. I figured that you and she would be best to ask, considering what Akechi took from you.”

“You mean my father.”

“Yes. I’m sorry for bringing it up.“

“Don’t be.” Haru gave Ren one of her trademark smiles. It never ceased to amaze him how strong she was. For someone with such a gentle soul, Haru had an emotional fortitude that few people could match. “It’s completely relevant to the subject at hand.”

“I just feel like if this is anybody’s call, it’s yours and Futaba’s. And since she doesn’t want to make a decision, that leaves it up to you.” Ren took off his glasses and looked Haru straight in the eyes. “You’re one of Akechi’s victims. You know how it feels to know the truth. If anybody has the right to make this decision, it’s you. Whatever you want, that’s what I’ll tell Sae.”

“I appreciate you considering my feelings, Ren-Kun. The truth is, I don’t hold any ill will towards Akechi-Kun. If you want my honest opinion, I don’t really see the need to tell people he was evil. He was hurting a lot, and he did some bad things, but it’s not like tarnishing his memory will fix any of it.” Haru shook her head and turned her gaze down towards her twiddling thumbs. “But at the same time, I don’t agree with you that this should be my decision. Akechi-Kun hurt a lot of people, and I have no way of knowing if they’d all feel the same way about him I feel. I imagine many of them would want to know the truth.”

“So you’re saying I should…?”

“I’m saying I don’t know what you should do.” Haru looked up to what could generously be called a look of disappointment on Ren's face. “I’m sorry, Ren-Kun. I imagine that after waiting so long to hear my opinion, this must feel very anticlimactic.”

“That’s one word for it.”

“If it’s any consolation, I think you’re a very bright person with a strong sense of right and wrong, and I trust that whatever decision you come to will be the right one.”

“Thanks, Haru.”

Suddenly, the door opened. Haru and Ren looked over to see Sojiro walk in.

“Welcome back, Boss” Haru said, waving at LeBlanc’s patriarch. 

“Oh, Haru-Chan’s here.” Sojiro sauntered over to the table with his usual swagger. Sojiro’s trademark gait fit his personality to a T, but with his hat on his particular style of ambulation was a sight to behold. “I’m afraid it’s a bit late for me to be trying out new beans.”

“That’s fine,” Haru said, getting up from the table. “I was just visiting a friend. But I should really be getting home now. Bye!” 

“Later, Haru.” Ren waved as she left. “Thanks for stopping by.”

“It was my pleasure.” Haru had one foot out the door, then looked back. “Oh, and Ren-Kun? I meant what I said. You can trust your own judgment.” Haru left the cafe and closed the door behind her.

“So Boss,” Ren said, looking up at Sojiro, “how’d you dig the latest advances in coffee-making technology?”

“It’s all so needlessly complicated. I’ll stick with the set-up I already have.” Sojiro removed his hat, going for his signature head rub. “I don’t know how I let Futaba talk me into looking at that junk.” 

“Because you’re physically incapable of refusing her anything?”

“Smartass.” Sojiro took a look around the cafe. “How was business?”

“Slow. The customers must’ve somehow sensed that the boss wasn’t here.”

“Well, there may be something to that theory.” Sojiro stroked his beard in thought. “But still, any apprentice of mine should be able to serve a better cup of coffee than anyone else in this city.”

“Hey, who’s this confident geezer? Where’s the self-deprecating Sojiro Sakura I know?”

“Hey, I take pride in four things; My coffee, my curry, my cafe,” Sojiro smiled at Ren, “and my family.”

“You’re a real sap, Boss.” Ren got up and headed for the stairs, taking off his apron. “Would you mind closing up? I’ve got some things to think about.” He tossed his apron to Sojiro.

“Sure thing, kid.” Sojiro caught the apron. “Just don’t overdo it. You look like your head’s about to explode.”

“I feel like it too”, Ren said. The second he entered his room, there was Morgana, sitting upright in the center of the room, staring at Ren.

“Alright,” Ren asked, “how much of that were you eavesdropping on?”

“A Phantom Thief never gives up information that easily!” 

“So all of it, huh?”

“Yup!” 

“So, what do you think I should do?” 

“It’s hard to say. Akechi was a bad guy, but he wasn’t _all_ bad. I mean, his actions were, but he was a victim too, in his own way.” Morgana scratched behind his ear, mulling it over in his head. “I think that you’ve been at this for a while. And you look tired, and you’re probably not gonna figure it out tonight. You should get-“  

“Some sleep, yeah.” Ren crashed on his bed, not even bothering to change out of his day clothes. “Honestly, that’s probably the best advice I’ve gotten all day.” Within moments, Ren was dead asleep. It took a minute, but Morgana managed to pull a blanket over him and turn off the lights.

* * *

 

Ren spent the next day consulting the rest of the Phantom Thieves. Morgana still didn’t have a good answer for him. Makoto, of course, already knew the situation, but being Makoto, she had overthought this even more than Ren, and went on a ten-minute diatribe that only made things more uncertain. Yusuke thought that Ren should make the full story known, not necessarily for any moral reason, but if only so the great epic tragedy of it all could inspire artists all across Japan. Ren made the mistake of talking to Ryuji and Ann about it at the same time, and it soon turned into a back-and-forth between “He was an effin’ bastard” and “He suffered just as much as everyone else!” Ren was beginning to understand what some adults meant when they said that they needed a drink.

Wait a second… “Needing a drink”… That was it! This was a news story! Why was he only talking to his teenage friends about it? As the blondes continued their bickering, Ren pulled out his phone and sent a text:

> Can we meet tonight?

As the sun lowered in the Tokyo sky, Ren rode the subway to Shinjuku. By the time it had set altogether, he was walking through the Red Light District to his favorite bar in Tokyo; Crossroads. He stepped through the front door and the heard the familiar mellow jazzy piano music that was kept on loop. Nobody else was there except the crossdressing barkeep, Lala Escargot. She looked at Ren and gave him a big smile.

“Well look who’s back. it’s been a while, young man.”

“I could never stay away from you for long, Lala-Chan.” 

“Uh-oh, don’t tell me you’ve fallen in love with me, Ren-Kun.” Lala winked at her young friend and occasional employee. “I’ll break your heart, you know. Just like all the others.”

“I’m sure someone will come along that can handle you one day.” Ren sat down at the bar. “But until then, you’re the only person I know who has their act together.”

“Well, when everyone comes to you with their troubles, you’ve got to be a rock or you’ll get swept away by all the drama.” Lala gave him a knowing smile. “But you know all about that, don’t you?”

“You get me, Lala-Chan.”

Just then, the bar’s front door opened, and in strode Ichiko Ohya, one of the finest journalists in Japan. And from how uneven her stride was, she was already at least one sheet to the wind.

“Heeeeyyyyyy! It’s my two favorite people!” Ohya managed to plop herself down onto the barstool next to Ren. “Are we ready to have a good time?”

“Are you drunk already!?” Ren sighed. There were a lot of things about Ohya that amazed him. One of them was her ability to function in the world despite a near-constant state of inebriation.

“It’s called ‘pre-gaming’, kiddo!” Ohya put her arm around Ren's shoulder, getting uncomfortably close with her boozed-up breath. “Since we’re pals, I’ll teach you all about it when you're older. Say! You're not old enough to drink now, are you!?”

“Uh… No.” 

“Shame.” Ohya removed her arm from Ren. “Lala-Chan! Let’s get this party started! Bring me something strong, and the kid the strongest thing you got that isn’t legally a drink!” Lala shook her head and turned to Ren. 

“Tea, hon?” 

“Yes, thank you.”

“Sooooo…” Ohya leaned against the bar. “I was surprised to get your text. Usually I have to bug you a bit for into. You got a big scoop for me?”

“Sort of.” Ren was nervous. Sae not included, Ohya was the first person he was talking to about this outside of his inner circle. And she was the only one who didn’t understand the whole nature of the Metaverse, even though she was one of the people who noticed when Mementos started to merge with reality on Christmas Eve. Of course, this trepidation he was feeling was obvious to the reporter. 

“C’mon, spit it out! What’s with the weird face? You look like you just lost your virginity and are trying to tell your parents!” Ohya’s eyes widened. “Wait a sec! Am I onto something? Ren Amamiya…” Ohya leaned in close, staring Ren dead in the eyes, her face inches away from the young man’s. She held her hand to her mouth as if it was somehow an effective barrier between sound and Lala and whispered, “Are you pregnant?”

For the first time since talking to Sae the day before, Ren laughed. Uproariously. Say what you want about Ohya, but she knew how to break tension. Even when (or perhaps especially when) liquored up, she had the people skills to cut through somebody’s defenses and get the information she wanted.

“Nothing that drastic. I actually wanted to ask you about something. I guess you could say it’s a matter of journalistic integrity?” At this point, Lala brought the pair their drinks; Scotch for Ohya and some green tea for Ren.

“Oh?” Ohya took a quick swig of her scotch. “What’s up? Did you join the newspaper club at your school?”

“Look, what I’m about to tell you is a big story, but I don’t want you reporting on it just yet. This has to be off the record, okay?”

“Cross my heart.” Ohya moved her hand across her chest in a loose, zig-zagging motion, but the intent was clear. “Lay it on me.” Ren looked over to Lala, who just nodded at him. He knew he could trust them both, so he began.

Ren told Ohya almost everything. He didn’t go into the full details regarding Igor and Yaldabaoth’s game, but he told her about Palaces, and Goro Akechi, and how he was the one who caused the mental shutdowns, and his tragic past, and his death in Shido’s palace, and what Sae asked him and how his friends weren’t really helping. It felt weird to unload all of that information, especially now that he hadn’t been in the Metaverse for about two months now. And having been imprisoned for most of that time and with only a month until he had to leave his friends and go home, Ren had been focused on just making the most of his time left in Tokyo and ignoring the fact that he couldn’t really be a Phantom Thief anymore. He thought he’d sorted all of his lingering feelings over his lost powers with Ryuji, but now that he was actually revisiting it all, he was a little sad that it was all over. Still, as he told Ohya his story, he felt like maybe facing this sadness was needed to finally put it all behind him. And so was figuring out this Akechi thing. Ohya was silent for his whole telling of the story, just staring at him and sipping away at her scotch. She wasn’t even taking any notes. Ren asked her a couple times if she was keeping up with everything, and she just nodded and told him to keep going. Finally, his tale came to a close.

“That’s some story.” Ohya put down her glass. She had completely drained it while Ren was talking, and her face was turning pink. “Ya know, I always knew that Akechi was a-sketchy!” Ohya was very pleased with her joke. Ren and Lala just rolled their eyes. “So yer big ethical quandary is what ya think ya should tell the public about Akechi, right?” 

“That’s right. My thoughts are all over the place like WOOSH!” Ren spun around on his bar stool to illustrate how lost he felt. “What do you think I should do, Ohya-San?”

“Well, whaddya wanna tell people?”

“I don’t know. That’s my problem.”

“No, yer problem is what ya _think_ ya should tell people. Yer worried about how they’ll react an’ the consequences.” Ohya looked at her empty scotch glass and gestured to Lala for a refill. “Jus’ imagine fer a sec that there are no consequences. No backlash, no danger, an’ everyone’s jus’ fine an’ dandy with whatever ya tell ‘em. What would ya _want_ to tell ‘em? Whaddya want ‘em to _know_ about Akechi?”

“Hmm…” Ren took a long sip of his tea. “I guess I’d want them to know about his role in all the mental shutdowns. And about his relationship to Shido, and his messed-up past, and why he did what he did. And I wouldn’t want to use all that stuff as an excuse. I’d want people to know that everything he did was his choice. But I’d also want them to know why he felt like he had to make those choices, as a kind of warning I guess? Like, so people wouldn’t treat kids in the future like he was treated? Does that make sense?”

“Mmhm.” Ohya smiled as her glass was topped off. “So, just do that. Control the story. Don’t lie, but tell it in a way so folks take away whatcha want ‘em to.”

“Isn’t that kind of manipulative? How does that make me any better than the kinds of people the Phantom Thieves would target?”

“Lemme letcha in on a li’l trade secret.” Ohya put her arm around Ren again, but by this point he’d built up a tolerance to the smell of alcohol. “There’s no such thing as ‘unbiased journalism’. Even if yer tellin’ a story with the straight facts an’ no spin, yer decidin’ that the story yer tellin’ is important an’ that people should hear it, an’ ya probably got a reason fer that. But bein’ biased don’t gotta be the same as bein’ a liar. So long as ya tell yer truth, the truth that ya truly believe in here,” Ohya jabbed Ren in the chest with her finger, “then the only folks’ll accuse ya of wrongdoin’ are the ones that didn’t wanna hear whatcha had to say in the first place.”

“Hm…” Ren rubbed his chest where Ohya had poked him. She had very boney fingers. “I think I know what to do now. Thank you, Ohya-San.”

“I am an eternal font of drunken wisdom.” Ohya took another swig of scotch. “The Buddha reborn from booze. The Booze-dha”.

“Yeah, well, the holy sermon’s over.” Lala reached over the bar and lifted Ohya’s arm off Ren. “The trains are gonna stop running soon. Time for you to head home, kid.”

“Right.” Ren got up from his stool and handed Lala a two thousand yen note. “That should cover the tea and at least part of Ohya-San’s tab. Thank you, Lala-Chan.” Ren headed for the door.

“Hey, kid!” Ohya swerved around on her stool. “I’m gonna be the one to break this story, right?”

“I’ll have Sae-San reach out to you as soon as possible!”

“Attaboy!” Ohya raised her glass to Ren as he stepped out the door.

* * *

The next day Ren contacted Sae and told her his idea; It would be best to tell the truth about Akechi’s involvement with the conspiracy while holding back some of the more fantastic details involving the Metaverse. State that he helped cause the mental shutdowns while also letting people know how he was Shido’s bastard child. The end result would further incriminate Shido while making Akechi a cautionary tale about how abandonment and abuse can twist a brilliant child with a promising future into something terrible. Akechi would not be exonerated of his crimes, but he wouldn’t be damned for them either. The truth would be known, and it likely wouldn’t stir up any new interest in the mysteries of the cognitive world either.

It was a few weeks later that a public funeral was finally held for Goro Akechi. There was no body, so the burial was symbolic, a tombstone marking an empty grave. A fair amount of people attended, including law enforcement officers, some of the TV personalities that had gotten friendly with Akechi, and more than a few teenage fans, both girls and boys. Of course, Sae, Sojiro, and the Phantom Thieves were all in attendance, dressed respectfully. Even Ryuji had managed to cobble together an ensemble that somewhat resembled a suit, though the jacket and pants didn’t match. Although a couple of his friends asked him, Ren didn’t tell them what was in the long, thin box he had brought to the funeral. He just observed the ceremony silently.

Ren hung back as people slowly started to trickle out of the graveyard. To his surprise, many people left flowers on the empty grave. Equally surprising were a number of notes comprised of hateful words. It made sense to Ren. Akechi was a villain. Not everybody would be sad that he was gone, and there were people affected by his actions that were likely still suffering. But eventually, he was the last one in the graveyard. And that’s when he approached Akechi’s tombstone, a hard scowl on his face. He cleared his throat.

“I still hate you, you know. Maybe it’s not exactly right, but it’s how I feel. You caused so much trouble for us. You lied to us. You killed countless innocents. You tried to kill me. You were a rotten person who tainted everything he touched. I can’t even look at that stool you used to sit on in LeBlanc without seeing your smug face, acting so friendly while harboring so much malice. But at the same time…” Ren sighed, and his expression softened. “I know you didn’t rot yourself. Other people did that to you. The world did that to you. It almost did that to me too. I guess I just got lucky.”

Ren opened the box. It contained the sword Akechi had when they entered Sae’s Palace together. A child’s toy, a plastic blade made of blue “light” belonging to a hero of justice.

“I hate you, but I also pity you. And I’m not sad that you’re gone. But I am sad that you had such a rough time of it while you were here. After everything you did, even though you died to save us, a part of me still thinks you deserved what you got. But I don’t think you deserved what made you into the monster you were in the first place.”

Ren stuck the toy sword into the dirt covering the empty casket, its handle pointed to the sky. And then he left. No tears, no last glance, just his back turned to the grave, finally putting it behind him.

“Rest in peace, Goro Akechi. You’re owed that much.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually wrote this chapter before any of the others. At the time, it was the longest fic I'd written and I wasn't really sure if I wanted to actually share it. Then I had the idea for the Makoto and Ryuji chapters, and realized that thematically this would work as part of "The Days Between". This is the final chapter unless I decide otherwise.

**Author's Note:**

> Update: This fic's been changed to use Joker's canon name.


End file.
